Some celebrated golfers have won this tournament, including Jack Nicklaus in 1977 and 1978, the only consecutive winner in its history. However, the tournament had acquired a reputation for struggling to attract the top players as it moved from course to course in South Florida. Since 2007, The Honda Classic has seen a vastly improved player field, largely due to the decision to make PGA National the tournament's permanent home. The prize money is comparable to other PGA Tour events outside of the "big nine" (the majors, the World Golf Championships individual events, The Players Championship, and The Tour Championship). The total purse was $6.2 million in 2015, with a top prize of $1.116 million (this can be contrasted to the total purse in 1981 of $300,000 (the equivalent of only $778,221 in 2015 dollars[3]). The original winner's share of $52,000 made it one of the richest stops on tour, greater than for any of the four majors, and more than double that of the Masters, which had a first prize of $25,000 in 1972.

2007: Mark Wilson wins the biggest playoff in the history of the tournament.[17] His birdie on the third hole of sudden death defeats José Cóceres. Camilo Villegas and Boo Weekley, the other participants in the four-man playoff, had been eliminated on the second playoff hole.